Machine for dressing cotton waste ob rags previous to their being



sfrnrns PATENT orrion.

EMERY SMITH, OF NORTH SUDBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR DRESSING COTTON TASTE OR RAGS PREVIOUS TO THEIR BEINGOPERATED 0N BY THE CUTTING AND DUSTING MACHINERY.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 1,782, dated September 10, 1840.

To all 10h-omit may concern Be it known that I, EMERY SMITH, of NorthSudbury, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new' and useful improvement in machinery for dressing cottonwaste and rags previous to the same being reduced by the cuttingmachines and subjected to the action of the common clusters.

The said improvement, the principles thereof and manner in which I havecontemplated the application of the same, by which it may bedistinguished from other inventions, together with such parts o-rcombinations, I claim to be my invention, and for which I solicitLetters Patent, I have herein set forth and described, which descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings herein referred toforms my speciticatio-n.

Figures 1, and 2 represent my machinery, the former being' a top Viewwith the cover o-f the box removed, and the latter a transverse verticalsection.

My machinery is to perform the oiiice of dressing the cotton wastepreparatory to its being cut up and dusted, by the dusting machine, thesame having been always accomplished by hand, it generally requiring theexertions of thirty operatives to do the same work as one of mymachines.

The cotton waste or refuse thread, of warp in filling now obtained atfactories for the purpose of being converted into paper, are generallymust twisted and knot-ted together and filled with small chips and otherforeign matters, for the removal of which hand labors has beenheretofore employed to a considerable extent, and for which I nowsubstitute my machinery with great effectand saving of expense.

A cylinder or drum A, Figs. l, and 2, suitably mounted in a centralshaft B, so as to be put in rapid revolution, is surrounded by arectangular box C C. Two lines of forked wires D D D, and E E E, Sac.,curved as seen in the drawing are inserted in the cylinder opposite eachother, as show in Fig. 2, and are so arranged that each one of the forksor wires D shall be situated in a line, which being produced(perpendicularly to the axis of the cylinder) to the opposite part ofthe circumference of the same, shall fall exactly between the twoopposite wires E E. That is to say, each space between two wires isopposite to a tooth or iron of the other row. The depth of the angularspace between the points of each wire is about one-quarter or one-thirdof the length of the same, and the said space is of a triangular shapeas seen in Fig. l, so as to reduce the prongs to sharp points. A row ofstrong pointed wires F F F, is arranged in the side of the boxproject-ing therefrom in t-he rea-r of the cylinder. The points of thewires F F are placed at a short distance from the extremities or ,pointso-f the forks D E, so that when the latter revolve they shall not comein contact with the former. each forked tooth D D E E (see Fig. l), anddirectly underneath the cylinder A and forked teeth D E is a curvedgrating of woven wire G H I, Fig. 2, and Gr H, Fig. l. This grating ofwoven wire is curved in a proper sweep, so that the points ofthe teeth D& E may be at a suitable distance therefrom and not interfere with thesame, when the cylinder revolves. The shaft B has four pulleys K L M Naiiixed thereon, the two interior pulleys L M being fast to the sha-ft,and the two exterior ones K N playing loose Von the same. Vhen themachine is not in action, a belt from the driving power, passes over oraround and revolves the loose pulley K. Another and similar belt fro-mthe driving power is arranged to revolve the loose pulley N in anopposite direction to the pulley K. Their operations will be de scribedmore particularly hereafter.

A portion O F, Fig. l, O Q, Fig. 2, and 0 P Q R, Fig. 3, of t-he frontof the box moves in suitable grooves S S, Fig. l, at each end, andslides up and down, and has balance weights T T, Figs. l and 2, attachedto cords passing over sheaves l lV Figs. l and 3 similar to a commonwindow frame.

That part X of the front of the box iinmediately under the wire gratingis capable of being removed at pleasure whenever it becomes necessary toclear out the dirt which collects in the space under the wire grating'.vTt is held in place by common buttons Y Y, Fig. 3, andhas suit-ablehandles Z Z by which the opera-tive easily removes it. There are alsoother handles o o, Figs. l, and 8, in the slide O P Q' It, by which thesame can be raised. A suitable quantity of cotton waste or rags, if itis desired to dress them, is introduced into There is a wire F, placedoppositev the interior of the machine, through the space b, Fig. 9.,created by raising the slide 0 I) Q R, and on throwing the belt from theloose pulley K upon the fast pulley L, the cylinder A is put in rapidrevolution so that the cotton is seized by theteeth of the forks D E andthrown around and dashed with great force against the wires F F at eachrevolution of the cylinder, and the extraneous matters adhering to thecotton will be thrown upon the sieve or wire work G H I and pass throughthe meshes of the same The peculiar object of giving the angular orforked shape to t-he teeth D D, E E is to prevent the material frombeing wound around the surface of the cylinder, for as the points of theforks catch into the threads and as each thread is probably held by twoor more points, which immediately succeed each other the thread cannotpass below the inner angle of the fork, or foot of the angular spacebetween the prongs of the same.

After the cotton thread has been suiciently beaten we change the beltabove mentioned back again upon its loose pulley K and likewise changethe other belt from the loose pulley N to the fast pulley M, whichreverses the motion of the cylinder and as the teeth D E are curved in acontrary direction, to that in which the cylinder revolves, or as seenin Fig. 2, they throw all the cotton towards the space it. We thenreverse the motion `a second time and subject the cotton to be beatenagainst the wires F F and so on until the same is sufficiently preparedor dressed.

Should there be any chips or knots or extraneous matter of too largesize to pass through the meshes of the wires, on raising the slide O PQ, R a little, the wind created by the revolution of the cylinder willblow all of them out from underneath the same or through the space thusopened.

In order to prevent the loose threads from working between the ends ofthe cylinder A and the sides of the boX, and winding around the shaft,so as to obstruct its opera-tions I nail a circular strap c of soleleather Figs. l and 2 to the side of the boX so that it shall cover theends of the cylinder in contact with the box. This effectually preventsthe evils above-mentioned.

Having thus described the machinery and its inode of operation I shallnow point out such parts of the same which I claim as my invention.

I claim, the cylinder with angular teeth, in combination with the wiresF F onthe inside of the box and wire grating under said cylinder, thewhole being arranged and operating together substantially in the mannerabo-ve mentioned, and for the purpose of dressing cotton thread or wasteprevious to its being reduced by the cutting and subjected to the actionof the dusting machines.

In testimony that the above is a true descriptiono-f my said inventionand improve ments I have hereto set my signature this eighth dayl ofAugust in the year eighteen hundred and forty.

EMERY SMITI-I.

Witnesses:

It. H. EDDY, EZRA LINCOLN, Jr.

